How to keep pasture mate from wrecking blankets

[WalnutGroveEq]

I have two geldings who are turned out together and the younger of the two is biting his buddy’s blankets and ripping holes in them. As you can imagine this is very irritating, especially since the most recent casualty is a blanket less than a year old.

All blankets have at least 1200 denier shell. Horses have free choice hay in a slow feeder, also have free choice water and salt. They are turned out for at least 12 hours a day and are in separate stalls at night.

I don’t think he will eat as well as he needs to with a muzzle on. Other thoughts were some sort of toy or treat (like a Kong for dogs), but he has had jolly balls in his pasture and stall for years that he’s completely ignored.

One other thought I had was applying something bad tasting to the top of the blanket that will make it very unpleasant to put in his mouth (like hot sauce or sriracha).

Does anyone have any suggestions? I don’t want to keep spending $$$ on blankets every few months if there’s something that can be done about it. Both horses are body clipped due to being in regular work and the temps are ~25 F and colder here, so simply not blanketing is not an option for me unfortunately.

[stb]

I have found Horseware’s Rhino blankets to hold up really well with my rowdy geldings. Other than separate turnout I know of no way to stop geldings from picking and playing.

[shall]

I had a similar problem. ‘Bitter Apple’ product helped quite a bit. Pet stores and horse vendors carry it.

[Simkie]

You can toss a stiff, tough flysheet–like a Kensington–on top of the winter blankets, and that’ll prevent tearing.

Kensington used to even make winter blankets with a top layer of that mesh material, not sure if they still do.

[SonnysMom]

How about one of the coated wire basket muzzles? It doesn’t restrict eating like a regular muzzle but prevents them from grabbing blankets.

[trubandloki]

@Simkie

You can toss a stiff, tough flysheet–like a Kensington–on top of the winter blankets, and that’ll prevent tearing.

I have never tried this but I have heard from others that it does the trick.

[WalnutGroveEq]

I have found Horseware’s Rhino blankets to hold up really well with my rowdy geldings. Other than separate turnout I know of no way to stop geldings from picking and playing.

I’m always surprised to hear this from people as the ones I’ve seen only have a 1000 denier exterior shell. I’ve had trouble with anything less than 1200.

[WalnutGroveEq]

@shall

I had a similar problem. ‘Bitter Apple’ product helped quite a bit. Pet stores and horse vendors carry it.

Did it affect the waterproofing at all? I wouldn’t imagine it would, but just thought I’d ask.

[shall]

No, Bitter Apple never made a difference to the water proofing. Long term, I solved the problem by leaving him out in the cold longer. I didn’t clip him, and left him outside blanketless until the blanket felt great. He’d incite his pasture mates to rip his blanket off on days he felt hot. Watching, I noticed the pattern. He’s always been a strong character. Through transitional weather, he now wears no blanket. I live in NW Missouri, so temps aren’t crazy. He’s a great ride and very endearing, but easy? Hmm.

[WalnutGroveEq]

@shall

No, Bitter Apple never made a difference to the water proofing. Long term, I solved the problem by leaving him out in the cold longer. I didn’t clip him, and left him outside blanketless until the blanket felt great. He’d incite his pasture mates to rip his blanket off on days he felt hot. Watching, I noticed the pattern. He’s always been a strong character. Through transitional weather, he now wears no blanket. I live in NW Missouri, so temps aren’t crazy. He’s a great ride and very endearing, but easy? Hmm.

I wish I could leave them naked, but if I don’t clip they will take 3+ hours to dry enough to be turned out again in temps below freezing with a wind chill and it’s just not practical.

[shall]

I know! It is hard. You will find a solution. My dude has a fancy, but lighter 100g blanket (ss tack). That’s all he needs in NW Missouri. He’s in full training at a boarding barn, so his hours outside are ~7, then he is in a barn. His coat no longer grows like it did when the younger him lived outside 24x7. Times change. He has adapted. In his younger years (born in MA with a yak coat), he arrived in winter with a full coat, which continued for quite a while. Now, he hasn’t for the last couple years. Trainer agrees.

[Abbie.S]

Not to hijack, but…

For the folks who have used Bitter Apple spray, how did you apply it? My gelding who normally lives au natural in the winter is blanketed this year due to some weight loss back in October. His pasture mate is committing serial murder on his blankets (side bar - Smartpaks Ultimate Turnouts w/ a 10 yr guarantee are pretty poor quality…pasture mate has gone through two so far but the fit on my very particular horse is the only reason I’m still taking Smartpak up on their guarantee to replace them).

I’m just trying to think of how much spray you’d need to apply, how well it would work in cold temps where things stay frozen for long periods, etc…

[shall]

Bitter apple was applied on the areas that were chewed. It soaks in and dries. The real fix was just letting him be cold in transitional weather during the 4-6 hours he is out daily. He hates being hot and sweaty, and has a high metabolism, so he can run his 11 year old self around and keep warm. Once the cold is consistent, he’s well behaved with his blanket.